Transporters in the Bolivian cities of La Paz and El Alto suspended the indefinite strike they had been carrying out since the previous day, after agreeing with the government to verify the quality of fuel to prevent the continued sale of allegedly contaminated fuel that has damaged thousands of vehicles. The agreement was signed after a dialogue between the leaders of the different transport federations of the La Paz department and the ministers of the Presidency, José Luis Lupo; Public Works, Mauricio Zamora; Economy, José Gabriel Espinoza; Government (Interior), Marco Oviedo; and Hydrocarbons, Mauricio Medinaceli. Medinaceli clarified to the media that it was agreed to form a commission with transporters to verify in the countries of origin of the fuels, at the plant of the state-owned Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) in El Alto, and at service stations that the quality of the fuel «is the required one». They also agreed that the State's compensation to vehicle owners who report damage due to contaminated fuel «be more than once» and «be immediate». Finally, Medinaceli indicated that «the immediate lifting of all pressure measures from the road transport sectors» is guaranteed in the La Paz department, which was ratified by the leader Edson Valdez. Valdez highlighted that the indefinite strike will be lifted «with the acquiescence of all federations» and maintained that the ministers are «the guarantee to give a solution to the problems» there were «due to the poor quality of the fuel». «It is in your hands the fulfillment of the agreement that we are signing today. If not, we will continue with the pressure measures,» warned the leader. More than 10,000 people have filed formal claims with YPFB for engine damage due to the poor quality of gasoline, which, according to the state-owned company, has high levels of rubber and manganese. The damages reported by transporters and private users range from 100 to 5,000 dollars in maintenance and the purchase of new parts to replace the affected ones. YPFB reported that it has paid compensations of 357,000 dollars and will continue to make the compensations in April. At the beginning of the month, President Paz attributed the fuel problems to a «sabotage» carried out by «organized structures» in past administrations and ordered the military guarding of all the state oil company's strategic plants. On Wednesday, the government reported the detention of a truck driver who tried to enter contaminated diesel into a refinery plant and announced that it is investigating whether there is a network that would be manipulating the fuel.
